Khālid b. Abī Ismāʿīl al-Kūfī (Arabic:خالد بن ابي اسماعيل الکوفي) was a Thiqa (authentic) transmitter of hadith in the 3rd/8th century and a companion of Imam al-Sadiq (a). Al-Najashi considered him Thiqa (authentic) and later scholars followed al-Najashi and considered him Thiqa as well. Khalid narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) both directly and indirectly.

Contents

His Lineage

Some people thought that the name of Khalid's father was Bakr b. Ash'ath, because al-Najashi mentioned Abu Isma'il as the kunya of Bakr. Thus, perhaps Khalid b. Abi Isma'il was Khlaid b. Bakr whose title was "Tawil".

However, since Bakr, father of Khalid al-Tawil passed away at the time of Imam al-Sadiq (a) and al-Najashi said that Bakr b. Ash'ath transmitted hadith from Imam al-Kazim (a), the two cannot be referring to one person.

Transmitting Hadiths

Khalid narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) both directly and indirectly. Thus, he was possibly among the companions of Imam (a). He was also the author of one of the Usul (major hadith references) of Shi'a which Safwan b. Yahya narrated.

Al-Turayhi and Kazimi said that Safwan's transmission of hadith from Khalid is a criterion by which Khalid is distinguished from transmitters whose titles are the same as him in the chains of transmission. Therefore, it seems that the word "Abi" is omitted from the chain of transmission of the mentioned hadith in al-Kafi.

His Authenticity

Al-Najashi considered him Thiqa (authentic) and later scholars followed al-Najashi and considered him Thiqa as well. Al-'Allama al-Hilli regarded Khalid b. Isma'il al-Kufi as Thiqa and perhaps, the word "Abi" is omitted from his mention.